Not wholly dependent on Gayle: Vettori

Royals Challengers Bangalore skipper Daniel Vettori on Sunday said that his side's batting was not too heavily dependent on explosive opener Chris Gayle and they can win even if he fails.

Vettori said that he was happy the way Gayle was batting but his side were capable of winning even without the West Indian contributing much.

"Yes I am happy with the way Chris (Gayle) is batting. He is one of the best T20 players in the world. But we are not wholly dependent on him and other batsmen are also capable of winning matches for us. We beat Delhi Daredevils in our first match without him," said Vettori ahead of his side's match against Rajasthan Royals here tomorrow.

"We have come here after beating two good teams like Pune Warriors and Punjab Kings eleven in back to back matches and that gives us more confidence. We were beaten by the Royals in our own back yard and we have thought over it and would try and win this one," he said.

Asked about spin legend Muttiah Murlitharan being left out for Tillakratane Dilshan to take his place in an earlier match, Vettori said that the hardest part of the IPL was that only four overseas players can play in any match.

"This is the hardest part of the IPL that we have to play only four overseas players and because of that we have to leave someone like Murali because we want to play three overseas batsmen. Dilshan has a chance to play in tomorrow's match while Cheteshwar Pujara is injured," said the former New Zealand captain.

Vettori also would not read too much in the poor form of Virat Kohli so far in the tournament, saying the Indian player was "too good a player".

"He is a talented and very sound player and can bounce back any time. Our bowling too has come good with Zaheer Khan back to his normal pace we contained a very good team on a very good wicket to 160 odd which was a good bowling effort," he said.

Rajasthan Royals player Stuart Binny exuded confidence that the home conditions would enable his side to prevail over Royal challengers once again.

"We had beaten them in Bangalore and that gives us confidence. We are not too dependent on Ajinkya Rahane and Owais Shah and are pretty strong in the middle too and that helps us push to 180-190 after a decent start," he said.

Asked about the last ball loss against Chennai Super Kings yesterday, Binny said, "It was a close match and we have been through this earlier too. I knew my strength and what I could do. We had planned to try and push the issue till end. The pitch was not helping the pace and was slow."

"We have plans for Chris Gayle who is in tremendous form but I cannot divulge those plans. Nor I can comment whether Shaun Tait will play tomorrow or not," he said.